Pumped Up Kicks
by Sassmaster626
Summary: Ponyboy is still dealing with the deaths of Johnny and Dally but now he starts to come out of his shell. What kinds of stuff is getting himself into? What's Darry and Soda going to do about it?
1. Convincing

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders!**

Pony's POV

"So, are you gonna go?" Soda asked me.

"I don't know yet. I want to but if Darry finds out there's going to be alcohol there he'll never let me go."

"Don't tell him there will be alcohol." Soda stated.

"Oh yeah, what else are teenagers gonna do at a party with no adults?"

"But Darry might trust you."

"Yeah and pigs might fly overhead. Besides, Darry doesn't like when I go to parties at all."

"Well, Pony you kinda have to go. I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but it's not everyday someone like Lisa Schafer invites you to a party." Soda raised his eyebrows and grinned widely.

"Yeah I know. I'll be the biggest loser in school." I put my head in my hands.

"That's why you're going. Just talk to Darry about it. I'll back you."

I sighed and gave in, "fine but this better workout."

"It will. But one more thing, don't drink." Sodapop said.

"No problem. I did that once it was horrible."

"Yeah I remember! Hahahahahaha!"

I smiled and put my head down. "You would."

Xxxxxxx

I decided that I'm gonna tell Darry during dinner. It's gonna be weird though because after all that's happened, Darry's been like over protective of me. He always has treated me younger than I am. Probably because I'm the youngest. "The baby," as he would say.

We are having spaghetti. I love spaghetti but I couldn't really eat that much because I'm worried about telling Darry about the party…and Lisa.

"Pony, you've barely touched your dinner. Are you sick?" Darry asked.

I guess he noticed. That's great.

"No, I'm fine. Just not that hungry." I said.

I looked over at Soda who was giving me that look of, "come on, and just say it already."

"Hey, Darry?" I said.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"I uh have to talk to you about something." I mumbled.

"What? Did you get in trouble in school." He almost yelled.

You see what I mean?

"No. No it's nothing like that. I got invited to…a New Year's Eve party."

"Who's having the party and are their parents going to be?" Darry jumped to conclusions already.

"Lisa Schafer invited me."

"Who's Lisa Schafer?" Darry had to ask.

"My friend. She's a senior."

"A hot senior." Soda added. He's getting a kick out of this.

"Will her parents be there?"

"Not exactly."

"Then no." Darry confirmed.

"Aw come on, Darry. What do you thinks gonna happen?" I said.

"A high school party with no parent's means there's going to be alcohol, drugs, and sex. And I don't want you doing any of it or even be around it."

"I won't, Darry just please let me go." I begged.

"I don't think so, Pony."

I shot Soda a glare of "I told you so."

"Come on, Darry, let him go. Don't you remember going to parties in high school?" Soda urged on.

"Yeah I do, that's why I don't want him to go."

"Pony's not gonna do anything he's not supposed to. You know you can trust him."

"It's the other kids I don't trust." Darry glanced at me. "They will pressure you into doing things."

"I won't let them." I wailed.

He was giving me one of those looks. "I don't know, Pony."

I didn't know what else to say so I just blurted it out. "But I like Lisa."

I thought he was going to spit out his food. He gave me a surprised look.

"I thought you said she was your friend."

"She is but I kinda like her."

"Well sorry but that doesn't make matters any better. It actually makes them kind of worse."

"Fine I'll stay home from a party that the most popular girl in school invites me to and become the biggest nerd in school."

I got up and started walking back to my room. Darry was yelling for me to come back, but I just ignored him. I'm so damn mad at him.

I left my door open so I could still hear them from the dining room.

"I swear that kid can be a girl sometimes." Darry said.

"Darry, why won't you let him go to the party?"

Darry let out a sigh. "Because, Sodapop, Pony's innocent. He's practically still a baby and I want him to stay that way."

"I know and I want him to stay that way too. But if you shelter him like that, it's just gonna make it worse. How do you think he feels right now? I mean you can _think _he's still a baby but don't let him_ know_ you do. Just let him go. He might surprise you."

"Fine. But nothing better happen." Darry said.

Yes! Good work, Soda! I can't believe he's letting me go!

"Ponyboy!" Darry called.

I practically ran out there. "Yes?"

"You can go to this party."

"Really?" I tried to act surprised.

"You don't have to pretend to be surprised. We know you could hear us from back there." Soda joked.

"Hahaha yeah." I said.

"But I want you home by 1:30." Said Darry.

"Two." I bargained.

"Okay, its one then." Darry said.

"Fine 1:30, I'm alright with that."

"Good, now go do the dishes." He grinned one of his rare grins.

Wow.

"Okay." I hate doing the dishes, but I'm not going to complain.


	2. Party Time!

The party is tonight. I can't wait! I still can't believe Darrys letting me go. And he's letting me stay out an hour and a half past my normal curfew. This is going to be the best night ever!

Darry walked in my room as I was getting ready.

"Almost ready?" he said.

"Yeah."

"Hey." He pointed a finger at me. "I'm dropping you off and picking you up. I wanna see what this party looks like before I let you leave."

That worries me a little. What if he changes his mind at the last minute and doesn't let me go? Or worse, what if he comes inside?

"Uh okay." I wanted Darry to leave so I could avoid future lecturing so I said, "I'll be ready in like five minutes."

"Alright, I'm gonna get in the truck." He said.

I was fixing my hair in the mirror and then Soda came in.

"Hey, Pony. I wanna talk to you real quick." He quietly closed the door.

"Okay. It's no secret that you like this girl and from the looks of it, she likes you too. And the two of you are probably going to want to be alone at this party. Am I right?" he said.

"Yeah." I shrugged.

"So, I want you to take this with you…

He handed me a condom. I stared for a second.

"Soda, I really don't think I'll need this."

"Just take it. You never know what might happen."

"Okay…thanks I guess."

"But only use it if you really have to. And you know what I mean."

"Alright, Soda, I get it." I put it in my pocket. Then went to open the door but Soda stopped me.

"One more thing, DO NOT tell Darry." He said.

Xxxxxx

Most of the ride there was quiet. Just Darry asking me a few questions here and there. Then, we finally got to the party. I grabbed the handle and almost got away.

"Thanks for the ride, Darry."

"Not so fast. You didn't think I'd let you leave without a talk first, did you?" he grinned.

"Okay. Get it over with." I said.

"You know how I always tell you that you don't use your head. Well now is the time for you to really make sure you do. Don't give into peer pressure. No drinking. No drugs. And I don't think I have to tell you not to have sex."

The way he said that made me look at him. "Okay, can I go now?" This is getting awkward.

"Yeah. Just remember what I said. And I'll be here at exactly 1:30. If anything changes call me."

"Okay, I'll be here." I can hear the music from the party just as good outside than you can inside.

There are so many people here that when I walked in, no one even really noticed. I'll never find Lisa in this mess.

I walked around trying to find someone that I know. It smells like cigarettes, booze, and some kind of weird sweet smell.

"Hey, Ponyboy! Never thought I'd see you here."

"Hey, Joe." Joe's my buddy from school. He's really funny. He's considered the "class clown" but somehow manages to stay out of trouble. He looked drunk or maybe high but with him it's hard to tell.

"Wanna beer?" he said.

"No. maybe later. Have you seen Lisa?"

"I saw her a few minutes ago. She looked kinda upset." Joe stated.

"Do you know where she went?"

"Nope." He said.

I walked around the house for a while. I couldn't find Lisa anywhere. As I was walking around, I noticed everyone was smoking and drinking. This sucks.

A few guys from the track team offered me a hit. I didn't want to be the only one not doing something so I might as well.

"Hey, Pony, that's an awesome jacket." This one kid, Paul said.

"Thanks, man." I said.

"Yeah and your hair looks real tuff today too." Another guy named Jeff said.

I sat down and smoked with them for a while. I never really talked to the team much. I always thought they were stuck up because most of them are Socs. They're alright though. I guess I've just been prejudice, like them.


	3. Brawl

I smoked and drank with them a while. Then, I saw Lisa come downstairs. She looked like she's been crying. She grabbed a drink and hurried outside, not making eye contact with anyone. I wonder what's up.

I want to go outside and talk to her to see what's wrong, but I'll wait a few minutes so it won't look obvious.

"Hey, where you goin, Curtis?" Joe said.

"Outside for a minute. I'll be back later."

"You better. I got some new stuff to try out."

"Yeah sure."

I walked out the front door where Lisa ran out, but she wasn't on the front porch. So, I walked in the backyard and saw her sitting on the ground. I think she was crying.

I didn't exactly know what to do. I don't like when girls cry. I started to walk away, but stepped on a stick. She turned around.

"Pony? What are you doing?" she asked.

"The real question is, why are you sitting out here alone?" I said.

"I just don't feel like being in there."

"Well, what's wrong?" I asked.

She didn't answer me right away, just looked at me for a minute. I took this as an excuse to sit next to her. There was some light from a window shining on us. She was definitely crying.

"Me and my ex-boyfriend have been arguing a lot. He just won't leave me alone. I don't know what it is with him. He just likes messing with me." she told me.

"What do you mean?"

"He keeps calling me and giving me notes. He's like black mailing me."

"Like, he wants to get back together with you?" I asked.

"No. he's just mad because I broke up with him instead of the other way around. So, he keeps messing with me."

"Oh, I get it."

"Yeah, he won't stop. And you know what's worse? He said him and his friends are coming tonight to crash the party." She said.

"What? Don't worry, we won't let them."

"That's nice of you, Pony, but you don't know him like I do. I doubt you'll be able to."

"I guess we'll just have to find out." I said.

Xxxxxxx

Lisa and I were still outside talking, when we heard a very loud car coming down the street and parked in front of her house. About five guys got out and started walking towards the party.

"That's them. Oh no. oh God." Lisa was saying.

"Don't worry everything's gonna be fine." I told her.

I saw a guy walking toward us. When he came into sight, I noticed who it was. Nick Boldwin. He graduated over a year ago.

"Nick Boldwin! You dated Nick Boldwin?" I whispered. She shrugged in reply.

"Hey, Lis. Who's this?" Nick said.

"None of your business. Just go away, Nick." She said.

"I just got here. I wanna party." He said.

Nick Boldwin is the biggest douchebag you'll ever meet. He treats girls like their garbage. He once slapped his ex-girlfriend, Kylie, in the face. IN SCHOOL! He's a huge asshole and I don't know why Lisa would ever date him.

"Why do you always have to be that way?" Lisa asked him.

"Because, I'm Nick Boldwin. I'm bold and I always win."

Lame. That was his famous line. He used it all the time in school, especially when playing football. I can't believe he still says it.

"Well, no one wants you here." She got up in his face. "It's my party and I want you to leave now!" she yelled.

"Whoa, bitch!" He pushed her back a little. "Don't you ever get in my face! You don't step to me, okay?" Then, he grabbed her arm.

"Get off me!" she screamed.

"Come on you, cunt!" Nick said again.

What am I doing? I snapped. "Get the fuck off her and get outta here, asshole!" I yelled.

"Yeah and what are you gonna do about it?" he threw Lisa and took a step towards me.

"Just back off, motherfucker!" I yelled.

"Oh we got a tough guy. A greaser." He put his hand on my hair. I pushed his arm away and he punched me in the jaw.

I punched him twice in the face and three times in the stomach. He put his hands on his stomach and his head down so; I kneed him in the chin and pushed him on the ground.

"Had enough?" I said. He started to get up so I kicked him in the side a few times. Then, he got up and ran back to his car. His friends must have seen from inside because they went running to his car too. And they left.

I have no idea where that came from. I must have been really angry.

I forgot about Lisa for a second. When I looked at her, she had an expression like no other. Pure shock.

"Ummm…I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't know…

She grabbed my shoulders and kissed me. I've never had a kiss like that before. Well actually I never had any kiss before.

She pulled back and looked at me with her beautiful eyes.

"Wanna go upstairs?" she said.


End file.
